2T) N’Keal Harry 6’3 225 WR Arizona St- “Junkyard dog” “Fearless” “Alpha demeanor.” Fights for every yard, highly competitive blocker, and ultimate team leader. I want this kid on my football team. Chris Long, the 2018 recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for his contributions to equality in education another dude I want on my football team. More on education a bit later in this mock.

3T) Deionte Thompson 6’1 195 S Alabama- My first time mocking Layne. My first time mocking Thompson. I’ve gone to 4 Bama games the past 2 years and can honestly say Bama’s secondary sucked this year. My ‘Bama sources blame it on DC Jeremy Pruitt’s departure to Knoxville but still endorse Thompson’s disregard for his body and ballhawking traits.

3.) MeCole Hardman 5’10 183 WR Georgia- Homer pick to be certain but If you make it to the end of this mock you’ll see that I’m emphasizing special team value. No better return man in this draft than Hardman.

4) Damien Harris 5’10 216 RB Alabama- Scheduled for pre-draft visit with the Steelers. This is the part in the mock where I emphasize strong football character and leadership traits.

5T) Foster Moreau 6’4 252 TE LSU- My first time mocking this kid. OUTSTANDING team leader. Alpha of the Tiger locker room. NASTY, high energy blocker who impressed at the combine.

5T) Christian Miller 6’3 247 EDGE Alabama- I’m going with Rang’s ranking for this one. I’ve seen way too many sites giving Miller a day 2 grade. I’m a huge ‘Bama fan and can say I’ve seen flashes from this kid that say he could be a special pass rusher but a myriad of injuries to this former 5 star recruit are a serious threat to him ever reaching his potential.

6T) Drue Tranquil 6’2 234 LB Notre Dame- So watching Cris Collinsworth, a football life, last night partially inspired me to add Tranquil to this mock. Collinsworth’s son, Austin, like Tranquil, was a Notre Dame safety and team captain. Both kids are highly respected team leaders who endured their share of injuries. Austin so much so that Cris said in the surprisingly good episode that his son will most likely be feeling the pain of football the rest of his life. Anyway, Tranquil here moved from safety to linebacker and if he can somehow stay healthy he’ll be a much needed team leader and special teams stalwart with a chance to contribute to the defense with his intense, hustling style of play.

6) Isaiah Buggs 6’4 306 DT Alabama- Stock has been falling during the pre-draft process, but I’ve seen enough ‘Bama games to recognize his position versatility and all out hustle on every down.

6T) DeShaun Davis 5’11 234 LB Auburn- Hang with me for a moment here. This is about as deep as I go. Motivated by a teacher telling him he would be in jail or dead by the age of 18, Davis plays the game of football with a major chip on his shoulder. As an educator, I cringe when I hear stories of teachers failing their students. I’m in my 20th year teaching and I have reached my share of problem students and lost others. One student from my first year teaching here in Georgia was moved into my class for behavior reasons. Kid was a handful. I finally made a connection with him at recess. We had a week long stare down on the playground while I was quarterbacking our daily football game. I could tell he wanted to play, but I wasn’t going to break and invite him into the game. He finally caved and asked me if he could join our little game. Kid was huge, but quite the athlete. The kids were afraid of him, but he was so encouraging to even our worst players he quickly earned the kids’ respect. At my first parent conference with his mom, she cried and said she didn’t know how to reach him. I heard her out for what seemed like an hour. When she finished, I simply replied, “football.” She immediately enrolled him in the local Gwinnett football league. Kid went onto to star at North Gwinnett HS. One day this former student’s mentor, a local cop, walked into my classroom in the middle of me teaching. Stunned, I asked him what’s up??? He said that he and my former student’s mom requested my presence at my former student’s signing day over at the high school. My former student received a scholarship from Mississippi St to play defensive tackle. Of course I went and was mentioned in his acceptance speech as the teacher who helped turn his life around. It was a huge night for me as a person and an educator. Even though that former student didn’t fulfil his promising future at Starkville, I still feel good about my positive influence on his life. Kudos to DeShaun Davis for proving his former “teacher” wrong and earning a spot in a SteelDrama mock as the new captain of the Steelers special teams unit.

7) Zedrick Woods 5’11 205 S ‘Ole Miss- 4.29 40? “Red” can flat out fly. Another demon for the special teams. I’ve done my part. Time for Danny Smith to do his.

Thanks as always for reading. Traded up yesterday, trading back down today. Trying to find some quality young men to add leadership to this football team even if their contribution is initially to the special teams. Let me know if you like ‘em or hate ‘em.